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Birthday
Thomas Edison was born on February 11, 1847 in Milan, Ohio. Edison was the Seventh and last born child to Samuel and Nancy Edison. Edison had very little experience of a normal education as a child. As a child Edison moved to Michigan were he received an education for 12 weeks. Edison's teacher called him a "distraction' and a "difficult student". After hearing his teachers remarks, Edison's mother pulled him from school. Edison's mother ended up teaching him how to read and write. (NPS) -
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Thomas Edisons Life Span
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California Becomes a State
In 1850, California became the 31st U.S state. California was said to have made "recored time" to become a state because it was never a territory. The legislature named San Jose the capital city, But after one year the legislature was unhappy with the location and moved the capital city around the state several of times before settling on a permanent city. In 1854 the legislature settled on Sacramento as the capital city. (CA.gov) -
Minnesota becomes a state
Minnesota became the 32nd U.S state on May 11th, 1858. Minnesota first became a U.S territory 9 years earlier in 1849. Minnesotas population increased drastically from 6,000 in 1850 to more than 150,00 people in 1857. Minnesota began mostly as a land for small farmers since it was near many lakes. That also gave Minnesota the nickname of "Land of 10,000 Lakes". The capital of Minnesota is St. Paul. (A&E) -
First Job
Thomas Edison had study and learned all about the telegraph as a young teen. By age 15 Edison became an itinerant telegrapher replacing those who were currently in the civil war. Thomas would travel all across the Midwest of the U.S. This job inspired Edison to create his first invention, "A Morse repeater". This invention was used by telegraphers like Edison all over the country. The device would slow down the speed of the messages coming through so telegraphers could understand them. (A&E) -
Battle of Gettysburg
The Battle of Gettysburg began on July 1st of 1863. The battle is considered the most important battle of the civil war and was the largest battle fought in North America. The battle was fought between the Unions Army of the Potomac and the Confederacy's Army of Northern Virginia. The battle was won by the Unions Army of the Potomac lead by General George G. Meade. The battle ended on July 3rd, 1863. (A&E) -
Klu Klux Klan Was Founded
The Klu Klux Klan or "KKK" for short was a underground campaign of violence instructed towards white and black republican leaders. The Klu Klux Klan is known for its practices of hatred towards blacks, jews and non-protestants. During the civil rights movement of the 1960's the activity of the Klu Klux Klan started to increase with more bombings and shootings of churches and predominantly black schools. The Klan is also known for the burning of the Catholic cross. (A&E) -
First Patent
One of Edison's first invention was a voice recorder for the legislative assembly. The voice recorders main job was to record the votes taken at the legislative assembly. This was an attempt to modernize voting. Unfortunately for Edison the legislative assembly was not interested in the new device. On the bright side, Edison received his first patent in his career. That was a important milestone for Edison. (Biography in context) -
Universal Stock Printer
Thomas Edison developed his universal stock printer In 1871. The universal stock printers nickname was the stock ticker due to the unique sound it made printing. The ticker was a device used to print out stock exchanges and prices. Thomas developed many different prototypes of the device and in 1871, Edison used ideas from all of his prototypes to create the final product called the universal stock printer. The stock ticker has evolved into a digital display shown across the world.(Sonnebron 24) -
The Quadruplex
The quadruplex telegraph was an invention by Thomas Edison. It was a device that was able to send and receive 2 telegraph singles on just one wire. It was a revolutionary idea and evolved the way to transmit messages. Jay Gould who was an American financier was interested in the device. Thomas Edison sold the patent for the quadruplex for $100,000 in cash, bonds and stocks to Jay Gould. After he sold the device Edison himself said "Somewhat more than I thought i would get" (A&E) -
Research Lab
Thomas Edison saved up all of his earnings from his inventions to purchase a small laboratory in Newark, NJ. After Edison started making more inventions he needed to get a bigger lab so he moved and created a new lab at Menlo Park, NJ. At the new lab, Edison invented the phonograph and the lightbulb. Those inventions helped improved Edisons career. Thomas Edison was also granted 200 patents for his laboratory which made it easier for Thomas to create unique inventions in his lab. (A&E) -
The lightbulb
In 1802, the history of the electric light source began when Humphry Davy invented the first electric light. After many attempts to create a light bulb Joseph Swan finally created the first one in 1850. Swan's bulb was revolutionary, But it had a short supply of electricity, causing it to die after a few hours. In October 1879, Edison and his crew set out to improve the light bulb. By using a cotton thread to serve as a filament, the new bulb was able to be lit for 13 hours.(Sonneborn 44) -
Edison Illuminating Company
In December of 1880, Thomas Edison founded the Edison Illuminating Company. This was his first of many business he would create. In September 1882 the company opened their first central power station in Manhattan and was also the first central power plant in the United States. The company grew popularity after wiring Manhattan with electricity throughout the city. Eventually, the company expanded and created its second power station in Pennsylvania in 1883. (University of Maryland) -
Wiring Manhattan
In 1881, Thomas Edison and the Edison Electric Illuminating Company signed a contract with the alderman and were granted permission to dig up Manhattan and wire electricity across the city. Edison said before he could start the job there was "a stupendous obstacle". He had to get a large supply of bulbs, generators and wires before he could begin. Fortunately Edison had already set up at lightbulb factory at Menlo Park. Edison and his crew began the job in the Spring of 1881.(Sonneborn 24) -
The RMS Titanic
The luxury ship called the RMS Titanic left from Southampton to New York on April 10th, 1912. Four days into the voyage on the 14th of April at 11:40pm the Titanic crashed into an iceberg south of Newfoundland. This was a surprise for the world as the gloried ship was called "unsinkable". The ship only crossed 375 miles before it sunk. The final death total of the Titanic was 1,053 casualties. (A&E) -
World War 1
On July 28th, 1914 World War 1 began. The countries that fought in World War 1 were Britain, France, Russia, Italy, U.S, Austria-Hungry, Ottoman Empire, Germany and Bulgaria. World War 1 introduced flame throwers, tanks, fleet of aircraft fighters, X-ray machines, blood banks and enlisted women. The war ended on November 11th, 1918. (A&E) -
Day of death
Edison experienced many troubles before his death. He began to take time away from the laboratory. Long family vacations became more often. In August 1931 Edison collapsed at Glenmont. Edison remained home bound from that point and he was under intense care. On October 18, 1931 Edison passed away. (NPS)
